God's Character:

The Best News in

the

Universe

by Dr. Elliot O. Douglin

Author of The New World Economic Order, The Hour of His Judgment is Come,

Ministration of Holy Angels, Absolute Rest and Principles of Sabbath Rest,

The True Church Prepares For Her Final Conflict, The Mystery Of Three Choices,

The Gathering Of The Nations, The Sealing Work, Abiding In Christ,

The Power of God's Word in the Science of Faith...

Copyright © 2001 by

Truth For The Final Generation

Contents

Chapter Eighteen
The Character Of God And The Plan Of Redemption

Chapter Nineteen
Is The Good News Too Good For Some To Believe?

Chapter Eighteen
The Character Of God And The Plan Of Redemption

God did not ordain that sin should develop in His creation but He foresaw, from all eternity past, its development in Lucifer's mind, its spread to other angels and ultimately to humans on planet earth. From all eternity past, God the Father and His Son, through their eternal Spirit of love had agreed on the plan of redemption. This was put into effect the minute Adam disobeyed and "sold out" our entire world to Satan's government.

From the instant Adam sinned, our entire planet was separated from God's perfect life-giving government of love and righteousness but the Son of God immediately stood in the gap which sin had made. God's grace enabled corporate humanity to survive by holding in check the forces of evil while sustaining existence and life on the rebellious planet.

Because the Son of God had made His commitment from all eternity past and then actually stood in the gap of separation after Adam's fall, He is described as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world! (Revelation 13:8).

At last when the fullness of time had come the eternal Son of God entered our time, our nature and our world as a human being; the Second Person of the Godhead had become incarnate, the Son of God became the Son of man.

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Timothy 1:9, 10.

"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory."

"Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began." Romans 16:25.

Between the fall of mankind in Adam and the incarnation of the Son of God, the human race was given the Old Testament system of animal sacrifices which was eventually systematized into the ceremonies and services of the earthly sanctuary or earthly temple. Each time the sinner killed a lamb, or other animal, he was to be taught the terrible truth that it is sin which causes death. And more importantly, he was to be taught the amazing, the fantastic, the incredibly good news that the Son of God would come to earth to be killed by our sins in order to redeem or buy back all that was sold out by Adam's one act of disobedience!

"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Romans 5:18.

Satan understood, to some extent, the meaning of the sacrificial sanctuary services and he worked diligently to pervert the Jewish understanding of the significance of those services. He succeeded to a considerable extent in causing the people to picture God as a cruel tyrant who delighted in the death of countless animals. And so the Jews saw the sacrifices as necessary to appease God's wrath and earn His favour rather than seeing them as promises of love which pointed forward to God's love-gift of His only begotten Son to save the lost race of Adam.

Going back now into eternity past we see that the Son of God pledged Himself in covenant with His Father to be the Substitute and Surety, the Second Adam, the Saviour for the whole world.

And just as God had foreseen lost humanity in the first Adam He foresaw redeemed humanity in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Ephesians 1:3, 4-6.

First, The Bad News

In order to better appreciate God's amazing plan of redemption we need to understand, a little better than we usually do, the extent of what we lost in the fall of Adam.

Before the fall, Adam possessed sinless, unfallen human flesh i.e sinless physical human nature, which was most conducive to submissive obedience. He also possessed a sinless, innocent, unfallen human character, which would have grown into sinless maturity by obedience to God. The Holy Spirit of the Father and Son indwelt the spirit of Adam's mind and all his thoughts were governed by and filled with God's self-sacrificing Agapé love.

The world was perfect. There was no sin, no decay, and no death. In fact, before sin entered our world, nothing could have gone wrong because God's perfect Government of Glory was in full and absolute control of our world and our universe.

The Extent Of Sin's Damage To Man

When Adam sinned, he expelled the Agapé love of God in the Holy Spirit from his mind and lost his innocent character. His human body was separated from God's government and subsequently his flesh became fallen, sinful flesh, no longer conducive to submissive obedience.

Adam was, in fact, Representative Man. He represented the whole race. The whole race was in him when he sinned and his choice to sin was representative choice.

Adam's one act of disobedience "wrote off" human character and human nature. He sold out the entire race and the entire planet to Satan's government of sin. At that moment when Adam disobeyed God, corporate humanity disobeyed in him and all was lost.

Adam's human nature before the fall was physically perfect, structurally and functionally unfallen. Adam's brain functions, the biochemistry of the thinking process and his mental faculties were also perfect.

After the fall, human nature also developed physical infirmities. No longer did the physical human nature function with the unfallen perfection as before the entrance of sin. The mental faculties also became weakened.

But the most damaging of the infirmities of the flesh which developed progressively after the fall was its moral infirmity. What do we mean by moral infirmity? We mean that the fallen physical human nature, far from being conducive to submissive obedience, became antagonistic to submissive obedience. The fallen flesh would exert a pull on the mind, a pull away from God's love and righteousness.

Satan recognized the extent of the stranglehold he had on the race. He exulted that he had seduced Adam to sin in sinless nature and he thought that now that Adam's nature was fallen he would forever hold the human race in his grasp.

But what Satan did not bargain for was the extent to which God's unselfish love would go to rescue man!

What Would Be Required To Redeem Man

Since the sin problem could only be overcome by love and right, rather than by power and might, God faced a massive problem. The sin problem would be the severest test His government would have to face.

If it were a matter of force or power it would have been an easy and very quick work for God to overcome Satan's government, as easy and quick as speaking the word since God does everything by His word.

But it is a matter of right not might!

God's government would have to overcome all the cruelty, all the hatred, all the force, all the lies and deception that Satan's government could produce. And God's government would have to overcome not by force but by the power of love and righteousness!

The question that therefore naturally arose in the minds of the on-looking universe was: Could God's harmless love be victorious over Satan's violent and cruel selfishness?

The principles of God's government would be put to the severest test by the sin problem.

The challenge was infinitely immense! God could not shrink from it. He would meet it through the incarnation, earthly life, death, resurrection and heavenly ministration of His Son!

In order to destroy the works of the devil without force, the Son of God, Eternal Wisdom, (Proverbs 8) would have to apply God's righteousness by His love to whatever extent sin had produced its damage.

Because sin separated man from God, the Son of God would have to suffer the death which the ultimate separation from God causes.

And because the law of sin and death became entrenched in fallen human flesh the Son of God would have to take on our fallen flesh and conquer the law of sin and death resident in such flesh.

In order to buy back or redeem Adam's lost race, the Son of God would have to live a sinless life in our fallen sinful flesh and die the equivalent of the death, which Adam would have died, if there were no plan of redemption. The Son of God would have to go to the lowest depths to apply righteousness by love in order to reconcile humanity to God.

Such was the magnitude of the problem that laid outstretched before Him before He left Heaven to come to earth in His first Advent.

The Fullness Of Time

"But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Galatians 4:4,5.

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."Galatians 3:13.

Some four thousand years after the fall, when sin's damage to fallen human nature was at a critically high level, the Son of God became incarnate. He was made of a woman and made under the law, the meaning of which Paul gives in 2 Corinthians 5:21.

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Though He never committed a sin in His life, yet by taking on our fallen heredity He therefore and thereby took on our condemnation.

The "Word" Became Flesh

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:1, 14.

The Son of God is called the WORD, (Greek: Logos) in John 1:1. In Proverbs chapter 8 He is called the WISDOM of God.

The eternal Wisdom of God, the WORD, the "logos," the eternal Son of God became flesh.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." Philippians 2:5-7.

In Philippians 2:5-7 Paul explains that Christ Jesus, who was in the form and nature of God, humbled Himself and took upon Himself the form and nature of man.

Similarly in Hebrews chapter One Paul explains that the Son of God in Heaven was higher than any angel because He, (like His Father), was God in nature from eternity, whereas the angels are created beings. Then in Hebrews chapter 2 Paul proceeds to explain that the Son of God took on human nature in order to save mankind from sin. He who was God in nature, became man. The Word was made flesh. What Kind Of Flesh?

The question may be asked: What kind of human nature, what kind of flesh did the Son of God take upon himself when He became man? This question is critically important. The answer is so clearly stated in the Bible that no one needs to be mistaken.

The following texts clearly prove that the Son of God took upon Himself our sinful flesh, overcame that flesh and lived a sinless life in perfect obedience to the WILL OF GOD.

"Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." Romans 1:3.

"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Romans 8:3.

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted." Hebrews 2:14-18.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14.

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." 1 Timothy 3:16.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." 1 John 4:1-3.

Let us carefully examine the first three texts:

(i) Romans 1:3 "Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh."

This text clearly teaches that the kind of human flesh Jesus had was the same kind as that of the seed of David and was made of the seed of David. Such flesh obviously was not the same flesh, which Adam had before his fall. The flesh of the seed of David was sinful fallen flesh.

(ii) Romans 8:3 "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh."

The Greek word translated likeness in this text is the same word used in Philippians 2:7 it really means SAME or actual. What Paul is saying in Romans 8:3,4 is that Jesus came in the same weak sinful flesh which we have but He overcame that flesh for us so that, by faith in Him, we too may live righteous lives in spite of our sinful flesh!

(iii) Hebrews 2:14 "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."

This text plainly teaches that Jesus partook of the same flesh and blood as those He came to save, that is, sinful flesh. Verse 16 emphasizes the fact that He took on Himself not the nature of angels but the nature of Abraham's seed. The nature of Abraham's seed was certainly not the nature of unfallen Adam, it was sinful, fallen flesh!

Some people equate sinful flesh with sinful character. This is a terrible mistake. We commit sin when we allow the flesh to control the mind. Jesus never gave in to the flesh. He lived a sinless character in our sinful flesh and it is because of this blessed fact that we glory in the tremendous victory of Jesus Christ.

He Was Tempted In All Points As We Are Tempted

The Apostle Paul wrote down an amazing truth in Hebrews 4:15.

"For we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

Jesus Christ was tempted in all points just like us. But in order to be tempted in all points like us, HE HAD TO BE MADE IN ALL THINGS LIKE US!

"Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2:17.

By putting the two texts together (Hebrews 4:15 and Hebrews 2:17 we can understand clearly Paul's argument. He is saying that in order for Jesus to qualify as a merciful high priest He had to be tempted in all points just like we are. But in order for Him to be tempted in all points like us, He had to be made in all things like us THEREFORE HE HAD TO TAKE UPON HIMSELF OUR SINFUL FLESH WHICH IS ONE OF OUR MAIN SOURCES OF TEMPTATION!

It is crucially important to understand that Christ could not have been tempted in all points like us if He had not taken on our sinful flesh!

Yes friend, Jesus was tempted in all points like you are. He fully understands the trials and temptations of the fallen flesh, the enticing attractions of the sinful world and the direct attacks of Satan. In our weak, sinful flesh, Jesus endured every enticing temptation to sin which we have to face. Therefore He knows how to sympathize with us and how to help us. As a matter of fact He was tempted beyond the point of human endurance. In the Garden of Gethsemane and in His trial and crucifixion, He was tortured and abused while at the same time He was bearing the sins and guilt of the entire world!

Throughout His entire life and especially in His last 24 hours He was tempted not only to break God's commandments but also to save Himself, to defend Himself, to retaliate against His enemies, to give up in the great struggle against sin. But He overcame each and every temptation.

Dear reader, it is because of His victory that we too can overcome. He overcame the sinful flesh in order that we too may be able to overcome the sinful flesh. Read Hebrews 2:14-18 again and thank God for the wonderful gift of victory given to us in Christ! Read also Hebrews 12:1-3.

Since Jesus was tempted in all points like us, and since He felt all the enticements of the sinful flesh and moreover since He overcame and lived a spotlessly sinless life, THEN WE HAVE THE ASSURANCE OF VICTORY BY FAITH IN HIM.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13.

But the question may be asked: How did Jesus overcome the flesh, the world and the devil?

Jesus Overcame By Faith In, And Absolute Surrender To, His Father.

Many people believe that Jesus overcame by depending on His own strength. Many feel that He overcame because His human flesh was superior to ours.

We have seen clearly from the Bible that He had the same weak sinful flesh we have. The Bible also makes it clear that Jesus did not employ His own Divinity in the fight against sin.

Jesus Christ overcame not by depending on His own Godhood, but by absolute surrender to His Father in full faith. Consider carefully these texts where Jesus explains that He trusted and depended completely upon His Father to do the works of righteousness through Him.

"I can of my own self do nothing; as I hear I judge; and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me." John 5:30.

"For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me." John 6:38.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." John 5:19.

"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." John 14:10.

"For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me." Romans 15:3.

"And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Matthew 26:39.

When Jesus Christ was on earth in human nature He depended not on himself but upon His Heavenly Father. He entrusted His entire life to the Heavenly Father who by the Holy Spirit performed the works of righteousness through the Son.

Jesus had to pray and cry out to the Father to keep him from falling under the attacks of the enemy. Paul makes this clear in Hebrews 5:7-9.

"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." Hebrews 5:7-9.

The righteousness of Christ then, was righteousness by faith in God, and not by self-effort. By faith in God He surrendered all to His Father who produced the good works of righteousness in and through Him.

The faith of Jesus is therefore the victorious faith of absolute surrender to God, of absolute trust in God, of absolute dependence on God, of absolute belief in God's word to be the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

The faith of Jesus is the faith of victory over sin, over the flesh, over the world and over Satan. The faith of Jesus produces complete obedience to the will of God, to the Ten Commandments of God.

The faith of Jesus allows God to fully reproduce His character through the believer in Christ!

God's final generation of living believers will keep the commandments of God because they will have the faith of Jesus, Revelation 14:12.

Remember, righteousness is not produced by our self-effort to do right. True, saving righteousness is the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST and is received as a free gift by the believing sinner. The gift of righteousness transforms the believer's character making him obedient to the will of God. The secret, then, of how to obtain righteousness is clearly revealed by the faith of Jesus, it is the SURRENDER OF SELF to God in full faith receiving His forgiveness, His love and His righteousness as free gifts in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

"… And this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith."1 John 5:4.

Chapter Nineteen
Is The Good News Too Good For Some To Believe?

All that was sold out by the disobedience of the first Adam has been bought back or redeemed by the perfect obedience and infinite sacrifice of the Second Adam our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To redeem means to buy back.

By living a sinless life in our sinful flesh, which He took on, and by dying the equivalent of the second death for us, Jesus has already reconciled corporate humanity to God. He has paid the redemption price for all human beings, therefore all human beings have been bought back or redeemed by the infinite sacrifice of Christ!

"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Romans 5:18.

"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." Hebrews 2:9.

Just as how Adam's disobedience sold out corporate humanity i.e the whole human race (all men); so too Christ's obedience even unto the death of the cross has bought back or redeemed corporate humanity (all men).

God has already given the free gift of salvation to corporate humanity, i.e the whole human race (to all men), in Christ. Christ is the Second Adam, our New Representative Man, therefore when He died for all, all died in Him.

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead." 2 Corinthians 5:14.

"And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." John 4:42.

But God has made us all free moral agents with freedom of choice. We can choose to give ourselves fully to Jesus acknowledging that we are already His both by creation and redemption, or we can refuse to acknowledge or believe the fact that He has already paid the infinite price for our salvation and therefore refuse to give ourselves to Him.

But those who believe that Jesus has already redeemed them by His death and in heart-felt, love-motivated response surrender fully to Him, they are saved by His life, and have experienced justification by faith!

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Romans 5:8-10.

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.

"For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe." 1 Timothy 4:10.

What amazing love!

What a wonderful salvation!

The Son of God, the Second Person of the Godhead, the One Who made all men in the First Adam, the One Who stood in the gap of the separation from God caused by Adam's sin, He condescended to be born into the human race, to take on our corporate fallen human nature, to be really tempted in all points as we are, to perfectly obey God's law for us and to die for us the death which sin's separation from God causes!

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:5-8.

And He did all of that because of His unconditional love for mankind. God loves us not because we are worthy, not because of who we are but because of Who He is! We are worthy only because He loves us with an infinite love.

Rather than leave us to perish because of our own sins, He took all the suffering and death that Satan's government could have thrown at Him. He did this in order to set us free. In fact He was willing to be separated from His Father forever in order to save us from sin and its consequences.

"That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." John 3:15-17.

Adam's one act of disobedience had brought the verdict of guilt and condemnation upon corporate humanity. But Christ's obedience, even unto the death of the cross, brought the verdict of acquittal or legal justification for corporate humanity!

This is illustrated by a piece of history. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery and legally set all American slaves free; but no slave could experience that freedom until he (i) heard the good news that he was already freed, (ii) believed it to be a fact, and (iii) allowed the good news of his freedom to motivate him to walk off the slave-plantation into a new life of liberty. If he chose to remain a slave it was because of either ignorance or rejection of the gift of liberty.

No one needs to be lost! But the vast majority of people will be lost not because Christ hasn't paid their redemptive price, not because God hasn't given the free gift of salvation to all men in Christ, but because of their unbelief and rejection of the gift of salvation.

This Good News of God's unconditional love and what He has already accomplished for us in Christ at Calvary is the Gospel. It is this love, and nothing else, that will motivate the sinner to give up all of himself to Jesus, to surrender all at the foot of the Cross in gratitude for such a sacrifice and such love!

It is only such wonderful love and goodness which can produce genuine-heart felt sorrow for sin and the motive-power to turn from sin to God in heart-broken anguish for our sins; sins which killed God's only Son.

Only the love of God revealed at Calvary can motivate self-centred humans to overcome selfishness and live unselfishly for God by receiving the free gift of righteousness.

We can now read the following texts joyfully:

"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Romans 2:4.

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4:16-19.

"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." Ephesians 3:16-20.

Grace Is Stronger Than Sin

Moreover God has made it easier to be saved than to be lost. God's infinite, unconditional love has given to corporate humanity the infinite gift of salvation from sin. This love of God in the Holy Spirit invites, pleads with and draws the sinner to Christ. If the sinner resists and beats back the wooing mercy of God's love, the Spirit intensifies His convicting and convincing work on the soul. For one to be lost he has to persistently beat back all the drawing power of God's Spirit of love, but if he yields himself to the drawing of the Holy Spirit he will completely surrender self to Jesus Christ to receive and therefore to experience the gift of righteousness and eternal life.

"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:20, 21.

"The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3.

The Faith Response

God loves and gives; our part is to believe, surrender and receive.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12, 13.

Faith is trusting God, believing His word, appreciating and receiving His love and surrendering fully to Christ thus receiving the free gift of salvation.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10: 9-13, 17.

The New Birth

The one who truly believes the Gospel cannot continue living for self. There occurs a radical change. The mind (willpower, intellect and emotions) is set free from bondage to self-centredness by the love of God in Christ Jesus. The pull on the mind of the law of sin and death, which is in the flesh, is overcome by the law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ. And whereas before conversion the sin-enslaved mind could not possibly obey God's moral law of love expressed in the Ten Commandments, after conversion the God-centred, love-controlled mind willingly obeys the law of God. In Christ God has rewritten His law of love in the human mind. In Christ the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer.

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1-4.

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:" 2 Corinthians 5:14.

"I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." Psalm 40:8.

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Psalm 1:2.

God Has Sought And Found Us In Christ

God made the first move while we were still His enemies. He revealed His absolutely, amazingly, unselfish, unconditional love toward us in sending His Son to redeem us.

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." Romans 5:6-11.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23.

Our salvation does not depend on our initiating or maintaining a relationship with God; it depends on our believing and responding to the relationship He has established with us in Christ!

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20.

Jesus Conquered The Law Of Sin And Death In The Flesh

Jesus came into the world to destroy the works of the devil.

And He succeeded!

"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8.

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Hebrews 2:14, 15.

Our Saviour condemned sin in the flesh thereby conquering the sin problem for the human race. Because of His victory there is now no reason for any human to go on living in sin. The true believer in Christ overcomes all addictions to sin by the love and faith of Jesus!

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin." Romans 6:1-7.

Faith Works

Faith works. It works by love. We love Him because He first loved us. And since we love Him we trust and surrender fully to let the Holy Spirit cover and fill us with His righteousness.

When temptation comes we therefore reckon ourselves to be dead to sin and we, by the power of His love, expel the tempting thought from our minds before it conceives to produce sin.

Let us now rejoice in these texts of scripture.

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:12-15.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthian 10:13.

"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." Galatians 5:6.

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." Romans 6:11-14.

What really is meant by being under grace and not under law?

A person whose relationship with God is under law is a person who seeks to obey the letter of the law by self-effort. The motivation behind such superficial obedience is the motivation of fear of punishment or desire for reward, or both. Such a person obeys because he regards it a duty which must be done in order to be saved. This is legalism.

A person who is under grace is a person who believes with his whole heart, mind, and soul that in Jesus Christ he has full and complete salvation as a free gift. His will is fully surrendered to Christ and his heart is filled with the love of God. Such a person is so thankful to God for the sacrifice of Christ that he cannot contain his love! And motivated by that love he willingly obeys every word of God without fear of punishment or desire for reward. He is so happy and secure in Christ's love that he hates the sins which crucified Christ and lives only to please his Saviour. Grace has transformed him, the old-man of selfishness is crucified and the love of God reigns in his soul, he has the gift of righteousness because he has the indwelling Christ.

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be

justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:16-20.

The secret of victory over sin is abiding in Christ. To abide in Christ means to believe in Christ and to surrender one's life, one's heart and will, fully to Christ.

When the believing sinner surrenders to Christ in full faith there occurs a death and a resurrection in his experience. The believer becomes crucified with Christ and dead to the old way of self and sin; and the believer is spiritually resurrected, he receives the Life of Christ through the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Christ lives out His life through the surrendered believer and the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer's life. In other words, receiving the righteousness of Christ by faith is manifested by obedience to all ten commandments!

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." John 15:1-4.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15.

"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:2-4.

Abiding in Christ means the daily crucifixion of the old man, the self, the ego. By beholding the utterly unselfish, self sacrificing Agape love revealed at the Cross, the believer is empowered to take up his cross daily, that is, to crucify self, to deny self, to abhor self-love and to be controlled by the selfless agape love of Christ and therefore to live the Christ life.

"And to all he said, "if anyone wishes to be a follower of mine, he must leave self behind; day after day he must take up his cross, and come with me. Whoever cares for his own safety is lost; but if a man will let himself be lost for my sake, that man is safe." Luke 9:23,24. N.E.B.

The cross means self-denial, death to self, the death of self-love from the soul and its replacement with Divine Love. The soul needs this treatment daily if it is to be transformed by love into a soul which will exhibit righteous behaviour under any circumstance.

God's remedy for sin is rather straightforward.

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Galatians 6:14.

"For he that is dead is freed from sin." Romans 6:7.

The old man, the self, must be crucified.

The old man, the ego, the love of self is continuously seeking to be resurrected and to regain control of the soul under a number of guises. Egocentric religious pride is one of the most deceptive and malignant forms in which the old man may return. This form is the basis of Laodicean lukewarmness.

Since the believer must engage in spiritual warfare against self everyday, Jesus tells us that we must take up our cross daily. This means a daily, in fact, a moment-by-moment surrender of self to the principle of the cross, which is the principle of self-sacrificing love. This is victory over sin!

The Good News is that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us not because of our good works but because of what God has already accomplished for us in Christ. Salvation, righteousness, and eternal life have already been given to all men in Christ. Faith acknowledges God's redemptive work and, in submission, receives the free gift.

The Final Generation Of Living Saints Will Overcome As Christ Overcame

True Christian character perfection, maturity and complete victory over all sin, with the attitude of complete humility and utter dependence on Christ, will characterize the final generation of living saints, called the remnant in Revelation 12:17. They will overcome as He overcame and His character will be fully reproduced in them.

Jesus our risen Saviour is now in the closing stages of His High Priestly ministration in the Heavenly Sanctuary. In order to vindicate God's government He must by virtue of His infinite sacrifice and His High Priestly ministration remove all sin from the experience of His remnant and bring them to perfect maturity of Christian character!

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Revelation 3:21.

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Ephesians 4:11-13.

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Corinthians 7:1.

"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. " 1 John 3:4-6, 9.